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Photo Credit: Joe Kelly/via IMDB
-MonsterZero NJ
And don’t forget to check out our previous Halloween Hotties!
Head over to the Halloween Hotties listings! to read them all!)
-MonsterZero NJ
-MonsterZero NJ
Terrifier 2 (2022) (full review HERE) took the horror world by storm when it’s theatrical release earned the partially crowd funded film an over $15 million worldwide gross on a modest $250,000 budget. It wonderfully reignited distributor and theater interest in giving indie horrors the theatrical release they deserve. Recent releases like Skinamarink and The Outwaters owe this flick a debt of thanks. The gory sequel also established Art the Clown as a new horror icon and Lauren LaVera as an instant fan favorite final girl with the horror film community…not to mention filmmaker Damien Leone as a force to be reckoned with. The film was released on physical media on December 27th, 2022.
Sexy and tough Sienna (Lauren LaVera) will prove a worthy adversary for Terrifier2‘s Art!
As for the disc itself….
The high-definition transfer of this horror/gore-fest looks great, especially for a low budget indie film. The colors are vibrant, and the picture is sharp, highlighting Damien Leone’s creative and effective visual style along with Art’s extremely brutal and gory kills. The 2hr and 18min film is presented in the original 1.78:1 aspect ratio with a 1080 high-definition scan. The sound is presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.
Now on to the extras….
The extras here are satisfying but hardcore fans will probably be left wanting more. There is a really cool and extensive behind-the-scenes documentary featurette on the making of the movie with a lot of production/FX footage. The leading ladies were all quite the troopers with what they had to go through. There is also an extended cast interview with Bloody Disgusting.com’s The Boo Crew that too features a lot of behind-the-scenes footage. Oddly it appears the menu listing is flopped, though, as clicking on the feature gets you the interviews and clicking on the interviews gets you the documentary feature. At least it’s all there. There is also director’s commentary from Damien Leone, the movie trailer and a fan “Art” gallery. The regular edition also comes with a nice slipcover with different artwork than the Blu-ray cover inside.
Art inadvertently unleashes a warrior within!
Terrifier 2 is now already considered a cult classic blood bath from the mind of innovative director and FX man, Damien Leone. A success equally attributed to Leone’s casting of David Howard Thorton as Art and Lauren LaVera as final girl Sienna. Thanks to the folks at Scream Box, it can be enjoyed any time of year on this solid Blu-ray release! Also available on DVD and 4K discs, too.
-MonsterZero NJ
Neve Campbell-less sequel has previous installment survivors Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) and her sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) leaving Woodsboro and heading to the Big Apple with fellow survivors Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown). A year after the last installment’s events and right in time for Halloween, bodies start falling again and a familiar voice begins making those fateful phone calls. Along with Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), who is now an FBI agent, they try to stop Ghostface one and for all.
Latest installment in this enduring slasher franchise is again directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. This is a brutal and vicious installment and actually works very well without Sydney Prescott’s involvement. The torch seems to rest fine in the hands of Tara and Sam, as does the refreshing change to the streets and subways of New York City. Setting it on Halloween is also a plus as now there are masked figures, especially Ghostface masks, everywhere. The kills are intense and nasty and this, along with a more 80s portrayal of NYC, with grimy streets, crowded subways and dark alleys, gives the film an even gritter edge. It’s an improvement over the so-so 2022 requel and does freshen up the franchise a bit even if the final act reveals aren’t quite as jaw dropping as we’d hoped. The violence is well rendered as always and is very intense although one feels that the trope of our heroes getting the upper hand on Ghostface then running away before finishing him off is getting really tiresome…understandably the movie would only be about a half hour long then if they did. At least Olpin and Gillett do have some fun with series expectations and relax the tiresome meta nonsense for a more straightforward slasher.
The cast is good here. Cox and Panettiere work well with the newer cast members, Panettiere especially with slipping back into the role of Kirby after 12 years. Her character’s explanation of why she became an FBI agent makes sense. Melissa Barrera again makes for a very strong lead as Sam, now dealing with the effects of the previous year’s attack and the savage internet fallout which paints Sam as the real villain. Rising star Jenna Ortega (X, Wednesday) gets far more to do here and is already a veteran in parts like this. Jasmin Savoy Brown is again fun as horror movie fan Mindy and Mason Gooding (Booksmart) is solid as Chad. Newcomers include Dermot Mulroney as Det. Bailey, Liana Liberato as his daughter and Tara and Sam’s roommate Quinn and Jack Champion as Chad’s roommate Ethan.
Overall, Scream VI doesn’t reinvent the franchise wheel but does freshen it up a bit with a new location, focusing more on the newer cast members and having a little fun with the franchise template. It’s also gritter and nastier than the last flick and delivers some brutal and intense scenes. The reveal could have had a bit more impact, but all in all Scream VI rates as one of the better sequels and shows the franchise still has some life in it yet.
-MonsterZero NJ
Rated 3 (out of 4) Ghostfaces!
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Slasher flick centers on a group of sex workers at a remote truck stop. Their days and nights are filled with slobs, drug addicts, religious fanatics and a pervert of a local sheriff (William Baldwin). None of those are their biggest problem, though, as they are now being stalked by a vicious killer brutally offing them one by one.
Horror is written and directed by John Swab who creates a very unsettling slasher. This grindhouse style flick is filled with a bunch of eccentric and oddball characters, some likable and some not. There are some vicious kills, and some disturbing sexual situations, as the line of work these folks are in is rarely pleasant. Swab surprisingly lets us know who our killer is very early on, and it works, as now we know to be afraid for characters when they are in the killer’s presence. We know who they are, but the inhabitants of this den of iniquity do not…and we have come to like or feel sorry for most of them. The bloody violence has impact, is well rendered and Swab gets pretty good work out of most of the cast. Not a classic but a solid slasher and worth a watch, especially if you like grindhouse era stuff. Also stars Olivia (It Follows) Luccardi and Owen (X) Campbell.
-MonsterZero NJ
COVID era slasher finds selfish party girl Parker Mason (Gideon Adlon) taking her friend Miri (Bethlehem Million) to a lake house to quarantine in the middle of the COVID pandemic. Her quasi-boyfriend DJ (Dylan Sprayberry) follows them up there to confront Parker about a social media broadcasted dalliance with another guy. That is the least of their worries as Parker is getting cryptic texts and calls, and soon it is obvious the trio is not alone.
Slasher is well directed by John Hyams (the son of director Peter Hyams) from a script by Scream scribe Kevin Williamson and Katelyn Crabb. It is a routine slasher, but gets the job done well enough. It is basically Scream meets any recent quarantine film, and as such it can get a bit preachy at times when touching on the subject of those who carelessly spread the virus due to negligence or selfishness. There are some vicious kills, though the body count is small and there are also some brutal fight sequences. The reveal in the last act is borderline silly, but it does lead to a welcome shift from slasher to survival thriller and it is a vicious and bloody one, with Parker and Miri proving themselves tough and resilient against their opponents. The cast are good, and overall, it is an effective horror despite being somewhat derivative. Sick is currently streaming on Peacock and is worth a watch if you like a solid slasher that doesn’t overstay its welcome at under 90 minutes.
-MonsterZero NJ
Mia Goth plays both final girl and villain with an amazing dual performance in Ti West’s X and again as Pearl in its prequel Pearl!
Mia Goth as Maxine. A pretty young woman with big dreams and stars in her eyes!
Mia Goth as Pearl, a lonely old woman with dark secrets and darker desires.
Pearl is also very dangerous!
…But so is Maxine when provoked!
Goth as Pearl. A young woman with big dreams and stars in her eyes!
Dreams that unfortunately get shattered!
This brings out the worst in the young country girl!
And a demented killer is born and so is a stunning performance!
-MonsterZero NJ
(And don’t forget to check out our previous Halloween Hotties by simply going to our Halloween Hotties main page!)
Sienna has gotten Art the Clown’s attention in the worst way!
The sadistic clown even haunts her dreams turning them into nightmares!
Sienna may be dressed as a warrior this Halloween, but she’ll have to fight like one, too!
What horrors await Sienna on this All Hallows Eve!?
What cruel fate does Art have in store for her?…
…or SHE for HIM!!!
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Lauren LaVera! A beautiful and talented actress we want to see more of!
Photo Credit: Joe Kelly/via IMDB
-MonsterZero NJ
And don’t forget to check out our previous Halloween Hotties!
Head over to the Halloween Hotties listings! to read them all!)
It’s a year after the Miles County Massacre and Halloween approaches. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) is resurrected and now accompanied by a demon (Amelie McLain) in the form of a murdered girl, who is also dressed just like Art. This malevolent mini-me points Art in the direction of Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and her younger brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam), whose deceased artist father seemed to have predicted the coming of the homicidal clown. Art leaves a trail of brutalized and bloodied victims as he and Sienna are destined to collide.
Gruesome slasher sequel is written and directed by Damien Leone who also did the editing and the abundant gore FX. It’s not what could be called a fun slasher as Art’s kills are cruel and sadistic and his victims are kept alive as long as possible as he mutilates and brutalizes them. It can be very unpleasant. The gore is practical make-up, and the FX are quite impressive and effective. Even one like myself who has been watching horror for over fifty years winced a few times. The film didn’t need to be 138 minutes long but also didn’t feel like it was over two hours and Leone wisely uses the time to let us catch our breath, so all the brutality remains effective. It is his best flick yet and he is honing his craft with some disturbing sequences, and a very impressive visual eye. The are some supernatural elements that go unexplained but do work and the abandoned carnival funhouse showdown is quite brutal and effective. Thorton’s Art is creepy as ever, yet can still make you chuckle, and Lauren LaVera makes a really strong and resilient heroine. Sienna is beaten, whipped, stabbed and yet keeps giving Art all she’s got. Complete in her armored angel Halloween costume, she makes quite the opponent for the crazed killer clown. Overall, this is a sick and twisted slasher made by a director who is showing some definite growth with each film and with a really strong final girl/leading lady in Lauren LaVera.
-MonsterZero NJ
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